Harry's Dangerous Vision
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Harry rescues Snape after witnessing a vision - well, Harry might need some help too. Completely AU, partly OOC, sick!Harry. Rating T because of the mentioning of an unforgivable spell just to be sure


**Harry's Dangerous Vision  
by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

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Harry scrambled into his bed, closing the curtains firmly around his bed. He still couldn't believe that Sirius was dead. Moreover, he couldn't get used to the horrifying news about the prophecy that Professor Dumbledore had told him later the same day. Today, Harry had spent the whole day walking around the castle, not able to speak to anyone. His friends had been waiting for him in the common room, but Harry needed to be alone. Finally, he fell into a disturbed sleep only to find himself in a chamber he had already visited several times during his visions.

'_Severus, my faithful servant,' Voldemort's voice penetrated his ear. 'Sometimes, I'm wondering if you're really as faithful as you pretend to be!' He threw one of the unforgivable spells at the man. _

Harry winced at the pain, glad that Voldemort took the spell off after a few seconds.

'_Can you give me one reason, why you couldn't make the boy give us the prophecy? You're his teacher; he'd have believed you anything!'_

_Harry watched the professor bow deeply. 'I'm sorry, Master. Potter wouldn't do anything I told him; he hates me.'_

'_Then you'll have to learn to do better!' Voldemort hissed and threw a spell at the teacher, which Harry couldn't recognize._

_He watched Severus bow once more and very slowly make his way out of the building, before he was out of Harry's sight. _

At the same time, an immense pain overcame the boy. He felt as if he was burning from inside. All of his internal organs seemed to be on fire. Never before had he felt so miserable. However, '_If I feel so bad, Snape must be much worse, since the __spell hit him directly__. I must go to the Apparition point and make sure that he's able to return safely_,' he thought and painfully scrambled out of bed.

It took Harry quite a time to walk down to the Apparition point, and by the time he arrived he was soaking wet from the heavy rain. He searched around the grounds and finally found what he was looking for. The Potions professor was lying on the ground unconscious, still in his Death Eater's robes. Harry quickly waved his wand, banishing the black mask and clothing before he made the unconscious teacher hover in front of him back into the castle.

When they arrived in the hospital wing, Harry let the teacher float onto a bed and quickly shouted for Madam Pomfrey, who came out of her private quarters shortly later.

"I found him at the Apparition gate after a Death Eater meeting, had a vision," he mumbled to the Healer, who didn't even look at him when she absentmindedly thanked him. He slowly left the wing, while Poppy threw a drying charm on Severus and checked on him.

Nearly an hour later, Harry finally made it back to his dormitory and managed to climb back into his bed. His body still felt as if it was on fire, while he was freezing cold and his teeth were chattering. '_I should put a Weasley sweater over my pyjamas_,' Harry thought but couldn't muster the energy to fetch one out of his trunk.

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When Harry woke up in the morning, he felt absolutely horrible. Apart from the fact that he still felt as if his whole body was burning from inside, he ached all over, was shivering immensely, and his vision was completely blurry. Nevertheless, he tried to sit up but was so dizzy that he fell back onto his pillow immediately.

At some stage he could hear Ron call his name and somehow managed to answer hoarsely, "I'm going to stay in bed, don't feel good."

"Shall I call Madam Pomfrey?" Ron enquired worriedly, taking in his friend's pale face and his flushed cheeks.

"No, I'll be fine," Harry replied, already closing his eyes.

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At the same time, Severus was fighting with Poppy. "Just to let you know, I'm going to leave now, considering that my first class is going to start in thirty minutes," the professor sneered.

"You're in no condition to teach," Poppy replied, handing her colleague a second Pepper-up potion, since the one she gave him during the night had not made his cold go away completely. "It was only sheer luck that you were brought here during the night. If you had remained untreated, you'd be here for the next four weeks. Don't you think that's a reason to rest for a day?"

"No! You actually did treat me during the night, and I'm well able to teach," Severus insisted, getting up to leave the hospital wing, leaving Poppy muttering to herself about annoying colleagues, who knew everything better.

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"Where is Potter?" Severus bellowed twenty minutes later.

"Harry is sick, Professor," Hermione replied quickly.

"I just came from the hospital wing, and Potter was not there. Thirty points from Gryffindor for missing my class unexcused, another twenty points for his missing homework, and detention tonight after dinner with me!" the professor sneered.

"But..."

"Another ten points for disturbing my lesson, Weasley!"

"You just cannot do that!" Hermione spoke up in a very upset voice.

"I can and I will. Another twenty points from your house for your continuous disturbance of my class, Granger."

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"Severus, can you please explain what made you take eighty points from my house during the first five minutes of the first class in the morning?" Minerva asked sternly as soon as the potions master took his place next to her at the head table at lunchtime.

Severus gave her a menacing glare. "Potter was missing unexcused, he didn't hand in his homework, and Weasley and Granger saw fit to disturb my lesson several times," he sneered.

"Potter was missing?" Minerva asked astonished. "Did they tell you a reason?"

"Granger said he was sick, but he didn't show up at the hospital wing, did he?"

"No," Poppy, who was sitting on Severus' other side and had been following the conversation, replied thoughtfully. "He was the one, who brought you to the hospital wing during the night. Thinking of how soaking wet you were, he probably caught a cold. Minerva, one of us should go and look after him."

Severus and Minerva gasped. "Potter brought me?" Severus asked incredulously.

"Yes, he said something that he had a vision of a Death Eater meeting and knew he had to rescue you," Poppy tried to recall what Harry had told her during the night. She had been so worried about Severus that she didn't even look at the boy.

"Well, an interesting way to thank someone for helping you during the night, Severus," Minerva said crispy, adding, "I just hope he didn't put you under the Cruciatus Course, knowing that Harry can feel every spell Voldemort casts in his visions."

"He WHAT?" Poppy blurted out, horrified. "Minerva, Severus suffered from the body burning curse. You know what happens when that remains untreated. We need to go and check on the boy immediately." The two ladies hurriedly left the Great Hall, leaving a very quiet potions master.

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Minerva and Poppy entered Harry's dormitory and carefully pulled the curtains around his bed back, taking in how ill the boy looked. His face was completely white, while his cheeks were deeply flushed, pearls of sweat were dropping down from his temples, and the boy was shivering violently. "Oh Minerva, what have I done?" Poppy asked, her face turning completely white. "I should have looked after him instead of solely concentrating on Severus."

"You couldn't know, Poppy," Minerva replied worriedly. "What can we do for him?"

"I must take him with me immediately. If the body burning curse remains untreated for more than ten hours, which it definitely did in his case, it causes all the inner organs to malfunction. I'm still able to treat him with potions; however, it will last at least a month until he'll be able to function normally. During that time, he'll be in a lot of pain and will probably have a very high fever. Moreover, he has a bad bronchitis, probably from getting wet during the night. His temperature is at thirty-nine degrees at the moment, but I expect it to go up even more during the next few days."

"Will I be able to look after him while you're away?" Minerva asked on their way to the hospital wing, knowing that her friend was planning to leave the castle as soon as the holidays were going to commence three days later.

"No Minerva, you can help me taking turns with me to look after him; however, the only one really able to care for him except for me is Severus, and he'd never willingly look after him. I'm going to cancel my holidays."

"No Poppy, you will not cancel your holidays. I'm going to speak with Severus tonight," Minerva promised, sitting down on the edge of Harry's bed, while Poppy went to get potions for the child.

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At dinnertime, Minerva said to Albus in a voice loud enough for Severus to hear, "We will probably have to send Mr. Potter to St. Mungo's. He's extremely ill, and we don't have anyone, who could take care of him while Poppy is on holidays."

"What happened, Minerva?" Albus enquired, giving his deputy headmistress a concerned look.

Minerva sighed. "He was hit with the body burning curse as well during his vision. However, he only took Severus to the hospital wing making Poppy look after him and didn't tell Poppy how bad he felt himself. Moreover, he caught a bronchitis being out in the rain for a while during the night."

'_He was hit..._' Severus gasped inwardly. '_And I took points off him, although he probably wasn't able to walk to the hospital wing in the morning_.' "Eighty points back to Gryffindor and another twenty for rescuing me," he mumbled, so that only Minerva was able to understand his words.

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During the next days, Harry's condition worsened on an hourly basis. Poppy had hooked him onto an IV to get the potions as well as some nutrients into his blood stream from two drip bags hanging on a stand. Minerva and Albus were taking turns with the Healer looking after him day and night.

In the evening after the leaving feast, Albus called his colleagues together for a staff meeting in Poppy's office. "I'm afraid we have to take Mr. Potter to St. Mungo's tomorrow," he told the others, his eyes void of their usual twinkle.

"No Albus, I'm going to stay here; I don't want to send him to the hospital," Poppy disagreed vehemently.

"No Poppy, you need your holidays, and let me tell you something," Minerva contradicted sternly. "Today, he was quite alert for a while, and I spoke with him. He told me 'Don't worry, Professor; St. Mungo's is much better than my relatives.' I will accompany him to the hospital and stay with him as long as they let me, so that he won't be alone."

"Minerva, don't send him to St. Mungo's, I am well able to look after him," Severus suddenly spoke up, causing everyone to eye him in surprise.

"Do you really mean that, Severus?" Minerva enquired, giving her younger colleague a sharp look.

"Would I offer otherwise?" the man growled.

"I will of course take turns with you," the deputy headmistress promised.

Poppy gave the young teacher, who had been a good friend to her since his own days at Hogwarts, a warm smile. "Thank you so much, Severus. This means a lot to me."

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When Harry woke up, he noticed immediately that he wasn't in the hospital wing any more. It was much darker than in Madam Pomfrey's area, where much light streamed through the huge windows, reflected by the white beds. '_Where am I?_' he thought, confused, and looked around the room that looked like a very nice bedroom held in light blue colours. '_That's definitely not St. Mungo's here_.'

He didn't have to wonder for a long time, since suddenly the door opened and a blurry black figure stepped in. Harry gave the person an uncertain glance, noticing at once that he still felt horrible. The person sat down on a chair next to his bed and asked with Professor Snape's voice however lacking any malice, "How are you, Mr. Potter?"

"Fine," was Harry's automatic reply.

The teacher gave him a menacing glare and ordered, "Open up." Before Harry noticed what was happening, the man slid a thermometer under his tongue, making Harry shiver as the cold thing hit his mouth.

Harry leaned back in resignation. '_So they apparently decided to leave me with the git instead of sending me to St. Mungo's_,' he thought exasperated. '_Dumbledore must have been drunk if it was him to make that decision_.'

"Your professors and Madam Pomfrey have decided to leave you in my care instead of sending you to the hospital, Mr. Potter," the man informed him as if he had been able to read Harry's thoughts. "Therefore, it is important that you tell me exactly how you feel; otherwise I won't be able to help you." He took the thermometer back and gave it a glance before he sneered, "40.3; I see that you're definitely 'fine'."

"What shall I tell you?" Harry asked upset. "My head hurts, my chest hurts, my throat is sore, my stomach is queasy..." He slowly trailed off and snuggled deeper under his covers, slightly shivering.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. Your inner organs suffered from severe damage due to the curse. As far as I know considering the time, by which you received the first treatment, they will probably all recover completely. However, that won't happen at once. Some things will be back to normal earlier than others. Therefore, I have to know exactly how you feel, so that I can adjust your potions accordingly. Of course I'm able to receive a lot of information through my diagnostic spells but not everything. Do you understand that? The more you help me, the faster I can make you heal."

"Yes Professor, thanks," Harry mumbled hoarsely, sighing in relief when the professor gently bathed his hot face with a cool cloth.

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During the next days, Harry's condition was still worsening. His fever reached dangerous heights and more than once the boy woke up finding himself in a bathtub with water that felt icy to his hot skin. He spent most of the time delirious in fevered dreams about his relatives and his godfather, not noticing that the professor tried to pry him away from his nightmares every time. Unbeknownst to Harry, Severus spent the whole day at Harry's side, except for a few hours during the afternoon, when Minerva replaced him, so that her colleague was able to get some sleep.

Harry noticed, however, that every time he woke up, feeling horrible, someone was there, trying to read every wish from his lips. His mind was beyond all thoughts about who this someone could be; he just felt incredibly grateful to the kind person. Only when his fever broke after a few weeks, he slowly began to notice that it had been his most hated professor, who had been caring for him all the time, witnessing all his nightmares.

One day, Harry woke up, feeling his pyjamas being pulled down over his shoulder before something cold was stuck under his arm. He shivered at the cold touch and lazily opened his eyes, seeing Severus sit on the edge of his bed, watching him piercingly.

"You seem a bit more coherent today, Mr. Potter," the teacher's voice penetrated his ear. "I need you to tell me exactly how you feel."

"I don't know," Harry mumbled, trying to concentrate on his body that still felt hot but not so sore any more. "My throat isn't sore anymore, but..." He trailed off when the thermometer beeped and fingered under his arm to take it out and hand it back to the teacher.

Severus sighed. "39.5, Mr. Potter. That's already a huge improvement from what it was during the last weeks. As far as I can see from my diagnostic spell, most of your inner organs have already healed. Your lung and your stomach seem to be the only troublemakers left. Both of them are infected and not working as they should. That's why you're still connected to the IV that sends the potions straight into your blood. Nevertheless, I'd like to slowly start making your stomach work again, and I believe that we should start with a very light stomach calming potion. I will help you sit up; you only have to swallow and tell me if your stomach likes it or not."

Harry let out a small snort. "All right, Professor."

During the next weeks, he did exactly what he was told, knowing from what he remembered from the last weeks that the teacher had been very kind and obviously really wanted to help him. However, it still took a few weeks until the professor finally took off the IV and told him, "You still have a slight fever, probably resulting from your lung problems; however, if you feel well enough, you may get up for a short while, provided that you only sit on the sofa and rest." He handed the boy a spray. "This will help if you have breathing problems, so I want you to take it with you wherever you go during the next months."

"Professor, I need to start with my homework," Harry replied hesitantly.

Severus gave him an astonished look and shook his head. "You're not in a condition to study yet. Wait until your fever comes down a bit more; there's still enough time to do your summer assignments until the beginning of the school year."

A week later, the professor finally allowed Harry to work on his homework for a few hours each day. He even offered to correct his work, so that Harry had to do everything again to include the many corrections the professor had made. '_It's annoying to do it all over_,' he thought. '_But on the other hand it's nice to have someone help me and care for me; it feels like having a parent, and it's so much better than staying with the Dursleys_.' He threw the teacher a grateful smile, before he started to write his Transfiguration homework a second time.

"Mr. Potter, I need to brew some potions for the hospital wing. Would you perhaps be willing to help me? I believe that a little Potions tutoring would do you well," Severus suddenly interrupted his work.

"Of course, Professor," Harry replied, glancing anxiously at the man, who strode ahead into his private lab and dove into a monologue about certain ingredients that were important for healing potions. '_Ah_,' Harry thought. '_That's what he always meant in class; I only understood that now_.' When Severus gently felt his forehead and sent him back to bed after an hour, Harry had the feeling that he had learned more during the last hour than in five years of Potions classes.

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It was only a day before Harry's birthday, when the headmaster finally visited them to enquire about Harry's condition. "How is Harry, Severus?"

"Ah, well, he's improving nicely; however, he still has a bit of a fever, and he still needs to get several potions straight into his blood stream, so that I have to connect him to the IV during the night. He also has to be monitored constantly because of reoccurring problems with breathing and nausea," Severus replied, causing Harry to give him an angry glare.

"I'm fine!" Harry insisted.

"No, you're not fine," Severus replied, glaring at the boy. "He can only get up for a short time until he gets feverish and dizzy," he turned back to the headmaster, who gave him a pensive look.

"You don't deem him able to return to his relatives now, Severus?"

"No," the potions professor replied, "Definitely not. He will have to be monitored until about school is going to start I'm afraid."

'_What is he playing at?_' Harry mused, extremely confused at the professor's explanations. '_My condition is much better than that, why is he so exaggerating_?'

"Well, that's not good. Then he cannot return to the Dursleys, but instead he will have to stay with you for the whole time."

"I'm aware of the fact," Severus replied evenly.

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As soon as the headmaster had left Severus' quarters, Harry turned to Severus. "Thanks a lot, Professor." Seeing that the man raised an eyebrow at him, he added, "for saving me from the Dursleys and letting me stay with you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Severus sneered, receiving a grateful smile from Harry, who noticed that the edge of the teacher's mouth slightly pulled up to a rare smile.

**The End**


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